Leaving All Over Again
by black-and-purple
Summary: Mal goes home and leaves... but what does he take with him?
1. Going Home

**I don't own firefly, nor will I ever**

Going Home

Chapter 1

Ladies and Gentlemen We have a job.

"Sir?" Zoë glanced at Malcolm.  
"It's fine, Badger" Mal quickly, not wanting to turn down this job  
"Good choice Capt. Reynolds" Badger pointed at the door and sat down

"Are you going to see your family while we are there, sir?" Zoe asked as she and Mal walked back to the ship  
Mal didn't answer, just kept walking

"Hello Capt. Did we get a job today?" floated River voice through the P.A  
"Send us outta the world, lil albatross." Mal hit the P.A and slowly the engine started  
Mal walked up to the ship's bridge.  
"They'll be happy to see you." River smiled gently  
"Stay outta my gorram mind on this one, River" Mal snapped  
"But you're scared of seeing them, you're scared of disappointing them. But they won't care. Love will keep you. Like a mother's warm hug." River looked into the distance programming the planet Shadow into the autopilot, then closed of the manual wheel

Mal walked down into his room, opened up a draw and pulled out a fairly old picture of his family. The one he carried with him when he was in the war. Dried blood and water was splattered onto the photo but you could still see 7 smiling faces, his 3 brothers, his 3 sisters and his mum. He shut the draw and just sat. Staring at nothing, trying to feel nothing.

"...the job is the usual one. Just a smuggling job off of a private firm. You know the drill but we ain't gonna do the job till 3 days after we get to Shadow. Shadow has a very private thing going, makes smugglers known pretty quickly if you don't know someone there. We can just offer some services then grab the loot before they can wink." Zoe gave the crew a quick overview of the job. "So any services that you can do for this town, you can keep anything that you earn. Such as Kaylee fixing up an engine or the doc helping someone."

"Inara, we are hitting atmo in about 5 mins."

"Thanks River. Disengaging in 3, 2, 1"

Inara had two clients today to attend to. She was hesitant with still staying on Serenity, knowing that she 'fogged things up' for the captain. But she had a job, an honest one, with no swun shi thieving and her shuttle made it so much easier for her to reach a number of clients who lived on other planets.

River landed Serenity lightly. She knew she didn't have as much skill as Wash, but she promised the captain she'd keep flying it. River had changed since Miranda. She was still dreamy and was still an assassin but she could make sense of everything now. There was nothing clouding her mind anymore. She didn't have as many nightmares as before so she had to be making progress.

"We're here everyone, feel free to do whatever you want." Rivers voice floated though the P.A system, then quickly added "And no grenades Jayne. We are not robbing yet. No guns either"

Jayne groaned, took off his grenade belt, and hung up Vera.

The door opened and Simon and Kaylee's hands locked together. They had planned to hit the town together and go out on a real date...

Mal looked at his home planet and took a deep breath. He was home...

**Thanks for reading so far. PLEASE REVIEW AND GIVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS!! **

**xx**


	2. Kaylee's Birthday

**I don't own firefly, and I never will**

Kaylee's Birthday

Chapter 2

It had been 3 days on Shadow now and the people loved them. Mal felt a bit guilty, not saying hi to his family but he hadn't seen them. He wasn't about to just waltz into his mum's home for no reason.

He sat in his room, glancing at an expensive bunch of flowers on his bed.

Kaylee sat in her hammock, guilt creeping up her spine, curling around her shoulders. She felt like she was misleading the people of shadow.

"We're not stealing from them, we're stealing from the Alliance." River's voice floated into the engine room.

Kaylee smiled. There were times when it was nice having someone to read your mind so you didn't have to explain how you are feeling.

"I got you a new tool kit; I thought you might need it." River handed her a delicately wrapped parcel, "I know you like your tools but there are some new types of tools that make things easier and I know it's your birthday today."

"Thanks, River. If you're not busy later, would you like to play knuckles?" Kaylee asked as she unwrapped the tool kit excitedly.

"That would be nice… Oh, and Kaylee?"

"Yeah"

"Check the compression coil. Just to be safe."

Kaylee jumped up and ran over to her baby and slipped underneath it. Sure enough the compression coil was becoming slightly loose. She pushed it back in and smiled again. River was a piece of work. She set to work

Simon walked into the kitchen, to the strong smell of apples and spices. He took a deep breath, embracing the smell. It was Inara's turn to cook so they were going to have something very tasty.

"Hello." Inara greeted him while stirring a pot.

"Smells good. May I inquire as to the occasion?" Simon asked

"Kaylee's birthday, of course. You wrapped that present I told you to buy?"

"Yes I did,"

"Chow in ten"

Mal passed the message though out the ship, telling Jayne, Zoe, River and Kaylee. Simon had set the table and Inara was just finishing the food. He walked into the dining area and sat down. Kaylee walked in and Simon pulled out her chair for her. The rest of the crew turned up in minutes. Soon it was busy, everyone passing around food and drinks, the sound of knives and forks scrapping the plates and the tinkling of laughter. Soon everything was gone but a smell still lingered. Inara got up and put a warm apple pie in front of Kaylee.

"Happy Birthday Kaylee"

"Thank you so much… I really love this" Kaylee grinned

"Well you can thank us by at least cutting the pie. I think we all got room left for some of that." Jayne said, laughing along with everyone.

"But just before we do that…" Zoe pulled out a small stack of presents. Kaylee squealed and started unwrapping them. From Mal, a gorgeous bunch of flowers, from Zoe a flowered head scarf to keep her hair out of the engine, from Jayne some money, from Inara some strawberries and from Simon a new elegant dress for special occasions. Kaylee got up and hugged everyone, giving Simon a small kiss on the nose. The party broke up and Kaylee admired her new presents in her room, while nibbling on a strawberry. It had been a great day and she sighed, leaned back and fell asleep.

Zoe sat at the end of her bed, holding her stomach. She gasped, feeling sharp pain. Then slowly it subsided. She breathed heavily and fell onto her bed. She knew what was wrong but she didn't want to admit it. But she had to get it checked out by the doc. She shut her eyes and fell asleep, tossing and turning.

River came onto the deck humming joyfully.

"What's happening now mei mei?" Simon asked ,knowing that whenever something good was going to happen River would hum.

"Full circle, new life, hatching out, following him," River skipped to the deck, still humming. Simon looked on, puzzled by his sister

**That's the second chapter up. Now go easy on me, it's only my first story but plz read and review… also some advice wouldn't go unwanted. **

**Cyaz**

**Black-and-purple**

**xx**


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